terça-feira, 25 de abril de 2017

The first 20 days of Cecilia

By Jaqueline B. Ramos *

The
20-year-old chimpanzee Cecília arrived on April 5 at the Great Apes Sanctuary
of Sorocaba, affiliated to GAP Project, after two days of a journey that began
in Mendoza, Argentina, where she had been living alone in a cement cage in the
city's zoo and exposed to the public.

Cecilia's
story would have been one more of a great primate rescued from ill-treatment
and taken to a sanctuary to live with her peers if it was not for the landmark
that her transference represents: she was the first chimpanzee in the world to
be released from a situation of inadequate captivity by the legal remedy of the
Habeas Corpus, an instrument generally used only for human persons. Cecilia is
the first nonhuman person to have a chance to fully enjoy the right of freedom
in a sanctuary. And this achievement was celebrated worldwide.

Pablo
Buompadre, president of the Association of Lawyers and Professionals for Animal
Rights (AFADA), the organization in Argentina that conducted the Habeas Corpus
case, says that Cecilia's case put down the wall that existed between the laws
of humans and non- human rights, which defined that animals as having no
rights.

"Judge
Alejandra Mauricio demonstrated with this courageous decision that the
interpretation of the law is dynamic, not static, that it must adapt to the
social changes of historical development, since it is not a question of giving
rights of animals possessed by human beings , but to accept and understand,
once and for all, that they are sentient living beings, who are subjects of
rights, "says Pablo, who will go to the Brazilian sanctuary on the 29th to
see Cecilia in her new home.

Today, 20
days after her arrival at the sanctuary, Cecilia is fortunately doing very
well. Gradually adapting to new life, which means stepping on the grass, having
space to run, having the opportunity to live with other chimpanzees and not be
forced to be exposed as an object of visitation and entertainment.

"The
sanctuary team must have a lot of attention and patience because Cecilia has
lived all her life in a concrete cage, a few meters from the public and the
reality that she has experienced is very limited. She is afraid of the noise of
engines and tractors, for example, and is afraid to be taken back to her old
captivity, "explains Dr. Pedro Ynterian, general secretary of GAP Project International
and owner of the Sanctuary of Sorocaba. "Now, in the early days, we want
her to get to know and trust the sanctuary humans - veterinarians and
caretakers - and we are also enriching her food with more protein items."

Pelo bem-estar de todos os animais

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